Sophie Fennelly
- Email: en19sf@leeds.ac.uk
- Thesis title: Mental health in the hostile environment: Contemporary Black British narratives of mental illness
- Supervisors: Professor John McLeod, Dr Clare Barker
Profile
I joined the University of Leeds in 2019 as an undergraduate student and began my PhD research in the School of English in 2024. My thesis explores Hostile Environment policy and contemporary representations of Black British mental health in literature and TV. I am interested both in the representations of these experiences and in the ways that creative cultural forms can offer alternative insights into these experiences. My research is fully funded by the School of English Gatenby Scholarship.
My previous research includes a comparative analysis of the representations of Black British mental health in the novels Queenie (2019) and Open Water (2021) during my MA in Postcolonial Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of Leeds.
Research interests
- Contemporary Black British writing
- Mental health in literature and TV
- Hostile Environment policy and mental health
Qualifications
- MA Postcolonial Literary and Cultural Studies (Distinction), University of Leeds, 2023.
- BA (Hons) English Language and Literature (First Class), University of Leeds, 2022.